Votes will be held in the University Center from April 17-19 to propose a fee increase that will help maintain student services and facilities. Photo by Nick Kemper.

HSU receives 8-year accreditation

By ljcopyeditor on July 25, 2018

Humboldt State University Press Release sent out from President Lisa Rossbacher at 12:44 p.m. on receiving 8-year accreditation from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges:

Dear University Community,

We are pleased to share that Humboldt State University has received the final report from our reaccreditation site visit by the WASC Senior Commission for Universities and Colleges (WSCUC), and our accreditation has been reaffirmed for eight years. The status of accreditation indicates that HSU has fulfilled the requirements for accreditation via core commitment to: student learning and success; quality and improvement; and institutional integrity, sustainability, and accountability.

With this action, WSCUC recognizes the important opportunities that HSU provides students and the quality of an HSU education. We can all be very proud of this reaffirmation, and we’re thankful for all the hard work on this process by countless individuals across campus.

In addition to informing us of the accreditation decision, WSCUC shared some important steps going forward, including the schedule for the next reaffirmation of accreditation process. HSU will have a follow-up visit (Spring 2021), a Mid-Cycle Review (May 2022), an Offsite Review (Fall 2025), and an Accreditation Visit (Spring 2026).

The WSCUC letter included several commendations that highlight campus efforts, as well as recommendations to further enhance student success.

The commendations were related to:

• Recruitment of diverse students,

• Alignment of University mission with issues pertaining to the environment, sustainability, and social justice,

• Hands-on learning experiences that actively engage students,

• Co-curricular programming that involves collaboration among multiple programs across campus, and

• Development of a robust institutional research capacity that informs data-driven decision-making.

Recommendations to further enhance student success:

• Evaluate campus support services to ensure the needs of a diverse student body are being met,

• Ensure that recruitment efforts inform potential students of challenges related to our rural setting and the availability of support services,

• Expand leadership’s communication efforts to ensure budget transparency and help the University community navigate change,

• Implement a university-wide assessment plan and program review for continuous improvement,

• Prioritize diversification of staff and faculty to reflect student demographics, and

• Focus on a sustainable budgeting process, enrollment management, and diversification of revenue.

We are pleased that WSCUC recognized the important work that is happening at HSU, and we hope you are as well. Also, we are not surprised by the specific recommendations, and we look forward to sharing progress during the 2021 follow-up visit. In particular, the University is well on its way to a sustainable budgeting process, having completed more than half of the two-year plan to reduce expenditures by $9 million, and we have nearly finalized a new strategic enrollment management plan.

Once again, thank you to everyone who participated in this important reaccreditation process. It has provided a valuable opportunity to reflect on our priorities, to identify areas where we can improve, and to showcase the accomplishments of HSU’s students, faculty, and staff.